Doctor Nick
by justaclassicgirl
Summary: [NOW COMPLETE! :D] In which Jess only has one person to take care of her when she comes down with a cold, and colds have a way of causing secrets to be spilled.
1. Late

Here's the multichap I was talking about. I also have another one in mind, and seeing as this one will be done in maybe 3-4 weeks, I'll start that one once this is finished.

It's so bad of me to start a multichapter before I finish my other Harry Potter one, but DAMMIT I've had this idea for a while and I couldn't resist.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 1-Late

Nick yawned and stumbled out of his room, making his groggy way to the coffee machine. Schmidt was just rushing out, and sent him a quick, angry "Remember the Oath!" before shutting the door. Nick poured himself a cup, totally oblivious to the fact that Schmidt had even been there a few minutes ago, and sipped down the hot, black happiness that filled the cup. This was heaven.

He sent a quick glance towards the clock, now a bit more awake. Wow, already 11. Shouldn't Jess have been up by now?

Unless she'd already left, but that didn't seem plausible either. Her class started at 12:30 and she usually didn't leave until 11:45.

Was it weird for him to know her schedule, minute for minute? No, he reassured himself. Who wouldn't notice, with how much it was like clockwork?

Nick downed the rest of the coffee in a large gulp and slammed the mug satisfyingly on the counter, leaving it there as he walked over to the couch to catch some sports.

But, as the minutes ticked by, he wondered where Jess was. She would be really late to her class if she didn't get up right now.

Should he check on her?

Nah.

...hmmmm.

He really should check on her.

She was fine. Maybe he had it all wrong and she happened to have the day off today.

He checked the date on his phone. Nope, not her day off.

Shit.

Nick sighed and heaved himself off the couch, and trudged down the hall to Jess's room.

He knocked gently on the door. "Hey, Jess? You okay in there?"

A small groan came from within, followed by a weak "I'm fine."

Nick rolled his eyes.

"I hope you're decent, because I'm coming in."

He waited a few more seconds. When he didn't hear any protests, he turned the knob and opened the door.

At first, he didn't see her anywhere. He only saw a mound of blankets piled high on the bed. Then, with a closer look, he noticed the pile shift just a bit, and spied a protruding lock of raven hair.

Nick walked over to the bed and gingerly placed his hand on the pile that was Jess. She let out a small moan and burrowed deeper underneath.

"Jess, do you know what time it is?" he asked her.

She made a small noise and pulled the covers down a bit, exposing nothing but her blue eyes. Nick was startled at first, for they were brighter than ever, but he recognized it as fever.

He placed his hand on her forehead, alarmed at how hot it was.

"You have a fever," he said, his voice tinged with concern. "I think you're sick."

Now, she pulled her blankets down all the way. He noticed immediately how much paler she was. "But I can't be," she wailed, and he started at the raspy sound that laced her voice. "I never get sick! I can't be sick!"

"Well, you are," he said, "and there's no way you're going to work today."

"I have to!" she cried, her fever-glazed eyes welling up with tears. "I can't leave my students teacher-less."

"Jess, NO. You need to rest. Now, just try to calm down, okay? Rest your voice. I'll call your boss and tell her you can't work today. There's enough time for them to find a substitute."

Jess opened her mouth to protest, but was stopped by a fit of coughing.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Nick said, already at the door.

She moaned in response, yet flopped back on her bed in defeat.

* * *

:)

Nick will be so cute for the majority of this story. I decided I should write fluff, instead of my usual angst.

But there'll probably be a teeny bit of angst thrown in somewhere, because I can't help myself.

Please review!


	2. Scared

Wow, I'm astounded by the positive response to this story.

:D

So, this may graduate to a bit more than a cold, possibly a mild flu or something. I want to draw out the fluff as much as humanly possible. (Great suggestion, barbramana1. Clearly we had the same thoughts about it.)

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 2-Scared

Nick walked back into Jess's room, balancing a tray with a bowl of soup and a mug of tea on it. This time, he vowed, he would NOT burn his hand in it.

"Jess?" he said softly, pushing the door to her room open with his foot. "I brought you some food."

"Not hungry," she groaned, once more buried under her sheets.

"You have to eat something," he said, pulling back the first blanket to reveal another. "It'll help keep your strength up." Nick pulled back another blanket.

"But I feel so queasy," she whined, her voice reaching hysteria. "I think I'll throw up if I eat anything. And-" She mumbled the last few words.

"Hm?" Nick said, placing the tray on her dresser, the only empty space large enough to accommodate it. "What was that?"

This time, Jess said something that sounded vaguely like "Lime bear dove chewed up".

"Sorry, what?"

She threw her arms out and down over the blankets, pulling them down to reveal her tear-stained cheeks and her bright, feverish eyes that were now full of terror. "I'm scared of throwing up, _okay_?" she yelled, and then started to cry again, rolling over and shoving her face into her pillow as she cried.

Nick sighed and walked over to her bed, sat on the edge, and ran his fingers slowly through her hair. He felt her sobs hitch, then slow until she was taking only hiccuping breaths every now and then.

Finally, she turned back to face him, and he immediately jerked his hand away from her hair as if it had burned him.

"No, don't stop," she murmured softly, her eyelids fluttering. "That felt...nice."

"Oh...Well..." Nick stammered, but then awkwardly placed his hand back on her head and began to run it through her hair once more. Trying to be discreet, he watched as her eyelids slowly drifted shut, and her breathing evened out.

Jess was asleep.

Nick sighed again, sending his gaze towards the untouched bowl of soup and mug of tea on the dresser, still piping hot. Then he looked back at Jess, looking more vulnerable than ever under the hill of covers.

He'd stay here.

With her.

Until she woke up.

And he was _determined_ to do so.

Nick shifted so that his whole body was on the bed and his legs no longer hung off the side, and kept running his fingers through her hair to keep her asleep.

And all he could think, in that moment of what felt like pure bliss, was,

"I could take care of her forever."


	3. Awake

A bit of Jess's perspective here.

** barbramana1** Wow, thanks so much! Publicity is always good. :)

Another note: As for the timeline, I really have no idea. I make reference to Quick-hardening Caulk in the last chapter, about the hand-soup-burning thing, but this is obviously not after Virgins because they haven't slept together yet. So somewhere in-between there.

And now for chapter 3.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 3-Awake

Jess's eyelids fluttered open, then drooped back down in despair.

She couldn't believe she'd gotten sick. Her immune system was top of the line, as it had to be because of her teaching job. She rarely felt so much as a headache.

And then, today...

Well, now that she thought about it, she had begun to feel this last night. Her throat began to feel a bit scratchy, and her nose had been running a bit. But she had dismissed the runny nose to allergies, and she'd had to speak quite loudly to get one of her more hard-of-hearing students to be able to hear her directions, thus straining her voice a little. And she barely thought anything of it, because, as was said before, she NEVER got sick.

Suddenly, Jess heard a soft huff of breath next to her that she was certain she hadn't let out herself.

It was Nick.

Next to her.

His hand entangled in her hair.

Asleep.

Crap.

Crap crap crap.

CRAP.

If there was ever a time she didn't want Nick with her, it was now. She didn't want him to see her like this, partially because she looked horrendous, and partially because she always got emotional when she was ill. She often said things she didn't mean, and cried an awful lot.

And sometimes, she got a little...hormonal.

And sometimes, things that weren't supposed to come out...came out.

Kind of like when she told him about her fear of throwing up, or when she asked him to stay and keep running his fingers through her hair.

But Jess was more worried about something along the lines of "Nick, I want to be your girlfriend!" or "Nick, I want you to spoon me!" or "Nick, I want to have SEX with you!" slipping out.

Really, the likelihood that he felt the same way about her was 50 out of 100, and even though there was a chance of him loving her too, she didn't want to risk the equally possible chance that he didn't.

Because those kisses, (the first one they'd ever had after True American and the most recent that almost resulted in them having sex) however amazing they were, may not have meant the same thing to her as they did to him.

Nick huffed again, and mumbled something unintelligible.

Jess blinked her red eyes tiredly, and slowly removed his hand from her hair. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, trying to ignore the pounding headache that reverberated all around inside her skull and the spots that danced before her eyes, making her dizzy. She pulled back a few of the blankets and climbed out of bed, leaving Nick behind. Then, she padded carefully across her bedroom, trying not to wake him up, (and trying jut as hard not to collapse) and slid her dresser open. Even thought she'd be an hour late, she was going to work if it killed her.

Literally.

A yellow blouse and a pair of skinny jeans later, Jess was creeping towards the door, heels in hand.

She reached for the doorknob. She was SO CLOSE. But then...

"Ah-CHOO!"

Nick sat up suddenly, as if he'd heard gunshots, and fixed his intense stare on her. She froze, blushed, and sniffed, a finger under her nose.

"And just where do you think you're going?" he said, smirking.

"Um...work?" she replied, softly and stuffily.

Nick rolled his eyes, stood up, and placed his arm gently around her shoulders. "Come on, back to bed. Let's go."

"But Niiiiiiiick," she whined, and he chuckled. "You sound like a five year old," he said.

Jess made no comment, and just sniffled a bit.

"You should...um...probably get back into your pj's," Nick said awkwardly after a moment. He didn't want her to think that he just wanted to stare as she changed (even though he did want to stare!) but he knew she'd be more comfortable without the blouse and jeans.

Maybe she'd like to wear one of his flannels?"

Almost as if reading his mind, she asked, "Do you maybe have a pajama shirt I can borrow?"

"Well, I hope you're okay with flannel."

She would have laughed, but her throat hurt too much. To accentuate this point, she groaned and rubbed it with her hands.

"Throat giving you hell?"

She opened her mouth to say yes, but he quickly placed a finger on her lips.

Both of them froze at the sudden contact.

Suddenly, Nick found himself very close to Jess.

Jess could almost feel the static of his body, could almost feel each individual fiber on his shirt. She sucked in a breath.

"Rest your voice," he whispered.

She found that their lips were mere centimeters apart.

Jess was so ready to kiss him.

And then, Nick turned his head away and towards the floor, trying to hide the warm blush spreading readily across his cheeks.

"I'll warm up your tea," he muttered gruffly. He grabbed the mug of tea roughly from the tray and walked briskly out of the room, leaving behind a very confused, sick, hormonal Jess.

* * *

:)

Chapter 4 may be up tomorrow. I've been good about updating so far, but no promises.


	4. Tea

Hi everyone.

Sorry about the wait on this chapter. I wrote it on Gmail and saved it as a draft, and then it got deleted somehow. :( So I had to rewrite it from memory, and it's nowhere near as long or good as it was before.

Chapter 5 will most likely be up tomorrow, though.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 4-Tea

As he walked quickly out of her room, Nick could not believe what he had just done.

It was rash, barely thought out, and overall just not a Nick-like thing to do.

And her reaction...

He sighed, and gazed down at the mug in his hand.

Heat up the tea. Right.

So, he marched sullenly to the kitchen and popped the tea in the microwave. As it warmed, he spied a lemon on the counter.

Lemons were good for sore throats. He knew that.

So was honey. Did they have any honey?

By the time the tea was out, Nick had two halves of a lemon and a bottle of honey in front of him.

As he added the extras, he pondered what had compelled him to do that finger fiasco back there. He just wasn't sure. Could it really just have been out of concern for her voice? Was it really trying to make sure she got well? Or was something else at work here?

He knew that he was interested in her. Those kisses should have expressed that. But he honestly had no idea where it went from there.

Well, he was just taking care of her at the moment. Having the room right across from her, he knew that he would have been roped into caring for her sooner or later, and his feelings for her would have nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Yes, that was it.

Nick smiled, and went to take the tea back to her room. But, as he was standing at her door, he realized two things:

1. He'd forgotten to get a flannel for her

And

2. That was the wrong answer.

He was taking care of her not because he had to, but because he loved her.

Love.

He loved her silky raven hair, her caribbean-ocean blue eyes, her pale, creamy skin.

He loved every little bit of her.

Startled by this sudden realization, he backed away from the door a bit and spun around to enter his room.

Nick scooped up a clean flannel from his chair and sat down on his bed for a second, trying to process this new bit of information.

He really did love her, didn't he?

"I do," he whispered to himself incredulously. "I love Jess."

Then, he became aware of the mug of tea in his hand.

"Suck it up, Miller," he mumbled to himself, standing up and walking across the hall to her room. "Go give Jess her tea."

And so, banishing any romantic thoughts of Jess from his mind, Nick opened the door.


	5. Leave

Here we go!

Jess's lines may be hard to read in this chapter, just as a warning.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 5-Leave

Jess could swear there were little men with knives stabbing the inside of her throat repeatedly. Just swallowing normally, the way no one notices when they do it even though it happens all the time, caused a fiery pain to erupt in the lining of her esophagus.

The same little men had most likely sent friends with feathers to her nose, as she couldn't stop sneezing either.

So really, she barely mentioned the previous encounter to Nick when he entered, because she was a bit too preoccupied to talk or think about it.

Nick set the tea down on her nightstand and handed her the flannel, seeing that she was still in her blouse. "I brought you a shirt."

She nodded her assent, her eyes half-closed, nose twitching like a rabbit, and mouth slightly open, then sneezed again.

"Whoa, bless you," he said, placing his hand on her forehead carefully. "I hope you're not getting worse."

"I'm fine," she said indignantly, only it came out more like "I'b fide" due to her stuffy nose. "Dow leabe be alone so I can change."

He frowned. "You really don't sound good."

"I wond't change wid you here!" she said, crossing her arms in a way he found adorable.

Nick threw up his hands. "Fine, fine. But call me back in here when you're done. There's tea for your throat there," he said, pointing to her nightstand.

She nodded, and then said, "Cad you bring be sobe tissues?"

Nick was turned around, so she didn't see him frown. He wasn't sure they actually had any. But all the same, he said "Sure," and left her room quickly.

Jess waited until he shut the door, then flopped back and groaned. She felt much worse than she was letting on. But she didn't want to inconvenience Nick by forcing him to take care of her, so she kept her mouth shut.

After a few minutes, she rolled over and sat up slowly, swaying due to the dizziness caused by the sudden motion. She pulled her blouse off and slipped her arms into Nick's flannel, and sighed. They were warm, and smelled like him; pine and aftershave and Old Spice, and generally a lot of manly things. But she did catch a small whiff of her own shampoo, and smiled. Either he was using it himself, or she had managed to rub it off on him so much while they were sleeping that anything he touched picked up the scent.

She snuggled deeper into the flannel. This was like being wrapped in one of Nick's rare hugs.

Should she call him back in?

No. For what? She didn't need him right now. She could take care of herself.

She'd only been too used to doing that over the past few years.

But still...he'd looked so worried...

Jess sighed guiltily. "Nick?" she called softly.

No answer.

"Niiiiiiiiiiiick!"

Nothing.

"Nick Miller!"

Wow, that stung her throat so badly. And still...

Nope.

Damn it.

Jess wrapped the blanket around herself and slipped her feet into her fuzzy blue slippers, then inched her way slowly to the door. She felt like a tortoise.

With every centimeter she moved, she felt worse and worse, and by the time she got to the door she'd sneezed at least 10 times. With one last "Ah-choo!" she opened her door and entered the hallway, and inched along to the living room.

"Nick?" she called hoarsely.

No answer.

Then she spied a piece of paper on the dining room table. She inched over to it and read it.

"Jess,

Went to pick up a few things.

STAY IN BED.

-Nick"

Right before he'd written his name, it looked as though something had been crossed out. Normally, she would have paid better attention, but today she was too sick to even care.

Jess took in a deep, shuddering breath. That was it. She'd really gone and done it now. She'd been too weird, too needy, too clingy for Nick to bear taking care of, and so he'd left. (The over-assumptions and hormones and tears were kicking in.)

Jess gave up and slumped to the ground, letting out another sneeze, and then began to cry.

She cried and cried for what felt like eons, but was actually only five minutes.

When the loft door opened, she was a sniveling mess.

Jess lifted her head to see his shocked face.

"Jess?" he asked, gently placing two shopping bags by his feet.

"Nick! I thought..." she trailed off and sneezed.

"What's wrong? What are you doing out here?"

"I called you to come back, like you said, bud you didn't adswer be. I thought you left be!"

Nick rushed to her side and cautiously placed his arms around her as she started to cry again. When she didn't protest to it, he sighed, "Oh, Jess, I would never do that."

"I dow. I just-" She broke into a sob. "People always leabe be. They always leabe!" And now she was crying again.

He was shocked to the core at her words. Who had hurt her so bad that this was what had become of her? If he ever found them, they would wish they'd never been born.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jess," he whispered, pulling her in tighter. She laid her head on his shoulder and the two of them sat together on the floor, just like that, for a long time.


	6. Throw

Wow, okay, sorry for the painfully long wait. I had this written a while back, and intended to publish it on Memorial Day. But then there were barbecues, and then the next few days I had to finish an English project that I put off until the last second. I guess real life caught up with me.

But anyway, here it is.

(Be sure to read the author's note at the end of the chapter.)

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 6-Throw

"Okay, there."

Nick pulled the blankets up over her and propped up the last of the pillows a little. "I bet that's more comfortable."

Jess nodded. They hadn't spoken about her breakdown or her "People always leave me" rant. In fact, Jess seemed content to never mention it again, even though Nick wanted to know desperately what was up with it.

The tables were turned with this one.

Suddenly, Jess snapped her head forward. Her fingers pinched her nose tightly. A small squeak came out, and then she sat back up as if nothing had happened.

Nick looked at her, a confused expression on his face. "Did you just...sneeze?"

She nodded tiredly. "I don't habe a tissue to blow by dose."

Nick jumped up suddenly. "I bought some earlier! Wait here." And he ran out of the room.

Jess, meanwhile, took a sip of the tea that sat on her nightstand, still warm. She gave a small moan of pleasure as the honeyed liquid slipped down her aching throat, coating and soothing it. Upon drinking her tea, she realized that she really was hungry. She hadn't eaten a thing all day, and now it was 4:00.

Nick returned with a box of tissues and placed it gently beside her. Jess pulled one out gratefully and emptied her nose of everything that had built up inside it since Nick had woken her up that morning. It wasn't a pleasant sound, and Nick flinched a little. But once she had done it, her voice was only a little congested and she could almost talk normally again.

He put a hand on her forehead for what felt like the 50th time that day. "Your fever hasn't gone down," he remarked worriedly. "I really don't think this is just a cold."

She gave him a small smile, and Nick could feel his insides melting. "Since when do you worry about other people? That's my job."

Nick thought to himself, 'It's not other people. It's you.'

But he didn't say anything and just crinkled his brow and pulled a turtle face.

She laughed. "I'm really fine. It IS just a cold."

Then, she saw the soup on her dresser. "I AM kind of hungry though."

Nick turned around to see the forgotten soup, sitting lonely on the dresser. "Um, that's been sitting for a while."

"Well, if you made it yourself, I'm not about to let it go to waste." She took note of the worry that covered his face once more and smiled reassuringly. "I swear, it'll be fine."

He nodded slowly, then handed her the bowl and allowed her to eat. He sat on the edge of her bed and just watched her, sighing and wishing life could always be like this.

Not her being sick of course, but him being able to take care of her without messing up.

* * *

Nick was reading to her.

Yeah.

Crazy.

Jess was trying to sleep, but couldn't. She kept feeling this gnawing pain in her stomach. But she didn't dare tell Nick. She didn't want him to worry. So she asked him instead to read to her.

It was a childish thing, she knew, but she loved the way words rolled off his tongue.

Just as Nick reached chapter 3 of some sappy romance novel he'd found in her desk (she wasn't really paying attention to the story and was just watching him) she tasted copper and salt on her tongue. Her lungs and mouth got an empty sort of feeling.

"No!" she wailed.

"What?" Nick said, startled and confused. "They just kissed, I thought you'd be happy-"

Jess sprang out of bed and raced down the hall to the bathroom.

"Oh."

And after a moment:

"JESS!"

And Nick got up and ran after her.

* * *

When Nick opened the bathroom door, Jess was in the process of expelling the soup from her stomach. He quickly gathered all her hair into a crude ponytail and held it back so it didn't have to get in the line of fire. (It was so soft, but he had to remind himself that now was _not the time_.)

Knowing how scared she probably was, he knelt next to her and placed a hand on her back, gently rubbing in circles, and whispered calming words to her.

"It's okay, Jess. Just let it all out. You're going to be fine. You'll be fine."

When she came up, there were tears rushing down her face. "Nick, I don't-I don't want to-"

And then she was back at it again.

He kept holding her raven locks back and continued to comfort her, wishing he'd been more stern about not letting her eat the soup. How could he have been so stupid?

Jess came up again, and he saw that she was trembling. He let go of her hair and waited to see if she was going to throw up again.

She didn't. She was all done.

The tears were really coming. "Ow..." she moaned. She wrapped her arms around herself, and in that moment she looked very small and vulnerable.

"Nick," she murmured.

He waited for her to continue, but she said nothing more.

Nick scooted closer to her. "Can I get you some...mouthwash, or something?"

Jess shook her head slightly, then leaned forward and shakily placed her head against his chest and let out a small sob.

"Jess-"

"Just...just hold me," she whimpered. "Please, just hold me."

So, he placed his arms around her and pulled them tighter, and started to rock slowly back and forth as she cried.

He felt a slight sense of déjà vu. They'd done this earlier, when he came back from the store.

But, not that he minded doing it again.

Nick looked down at the sick woman in his arms, and did another very un-Nick-like thing.

He lowered his head towards hers and planted a small, soft kiss atop her hair.

Jess gasped, exhaled shakily, and buried her head in his shoulder. She showed no signs of objection.

Nick kissed her head once more, then stroked her hair with his hands and murmured softly to her, trying to calm her down. Finally, he felt her head loll a bit, and he knew she was sleeping. He shifted, careful not to wake her, and scooped her up, bridal-style. Then he carried her back to her room, laid her gently down in bed, and pulled the covers up over her. She let out a small sigh of content and snuggled into the warm blankets.

Nick stood there for a moment, just watching her, then leaned over her and kissed her burning forehead. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and left the room.

* * *

A small smile appeared on Jess's face.

* * *

Okay, is that cute enough for you?

That was so fun to write, I can't even.

I don't know how much longer I can milk this, though, so there's probably only going to be 2 or 3 more chapters left.


	7. Confession

Okay, this one's a doozy.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 7-Confession

Turns out it wasn't just the soup.

Jess must have contracted the flu, because in the middle of the night (even though she hadn't eaten a thing) she was up puking again, Nick right by her side in the bathroom.

Schmidt and Winston, having returned home, did not take kindly to this.

Schmidt, in particular, was more concerned about his own well-being.

"Nicholas Miller, I swear to God, if that contaminated woman infects this precious body of a golden Jewish gladiator, I will see to her personal quarantine in a hospital cell! And anything she touched will be burned with acid and then thrown into the fiery volcanoes of Hawaii!"

Winston, however, was just plain tired.

"Can you just get her to stop crying? I get the being sick part, and I guess that can't be helped, but I have just had a very long and pleasant night with Daisy and tomorrow's Saturday. And you know better than anyone that Saturday is a day for sleeping."

"Guys, come on!" Nick yelled. "Give her a break! She has the flu!"

Schmidt leaped about a mile in the air with a girlish screech, and ran out of the room. Winston rolled his eyes at the melodramatic man and patted Nick on the back before going back to bed.

When Jess came up, she fell into his arms. "They HATE me!" she sobbed.

"Jess, that's crazy. They don't hate you, you know they don't. You know how Schmidt gets around germs. And Winston wasn't even that mad. They're both just tired and grumpy."

"P-promise?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Promise."

She stood up shakily, her legs wobbling. He put his hand on her shoulder to steady her, and helped her to the sink so she could wash the bitter taste out of her mouth.

When she was done, her eyelids drooped. "I'm tired, Nick."

"I know. Let me take you back to your room," he said.

He picked her up and she clung to his neck like a sloth. But when he reached her door, she shook her head, her big blue eyes looking up at him imploringly.

"Can I-can I sleep with you?"

Nick took a deep breath. "I'm not sure that-"

"Please," she whispered. "I'm scared."

"...Fine."

She didn't smile, but nestled deeper into his chest.

* * *

Nick laid her gently on his bed, wishing he'd made the bedsheets a while earlier. But that wasn't happening now. Jess needed to rest.

She looked up at him. "What are you doing, just standing there?" she mumbled sleepily. "Come to bed with me."

Nick was surprised for a moment at her boldness, but then was almost certain she hadn't meant for it to come out that way.

Then she patted the space of the bed next to her and whispered again, "Come to bed with me."

He nodded dumbly and climbed into bed next to her, where he laid stiff and straight with no part of him even brushing any part of her. It was so hard for him not to be...well...hard.

(suggestive eyebrow wiggle by the immature author, who just couldn't help putting that in and is laughing hysterically at her own words)

"I'm cold," she said suddenly. "Can you maybe hold me?"

No. Too much. Jessica Day sensory overload

"There's a blanket, you know," he snapped, turning away from her,

"Nick?" she asked sadly. "Why don't you want to hold me?"

He turned back to face her, looking strangely sad as well.

"Jess, you've had a long night. You're tired and delirious. You need to sleep."

"I'm not delirious! I just want you to hold me!"

"You're not in your right mind, Jess. You have no idea what you want right now."

"But I do," she said, her voice cracking with tears. "I know exactly what I want. I've been thinking about it for a long enough time."

He scooted closer. "And...what do you want?" he whispered, heart pounding.

"You," she said, and then began to cry very hard. "I want you, Nicholas Miller."

He sighed deeply and placed a hand on her forehead. "Still got a fever. I knew it."

"No, Nick, it's not the fever! It isn't!"

"Shhh, Jess. Sleep. You need to rest. This isn't like you, and besides, you'll forget it all when you're better," he said softly, stroking her hair.

She sat up suddenly, throwing his hand off her. "DON'T!" she yelled. "Don't do this again. I WILL remember this, Nick. Because how could I forget how I feel for you, how I've felt for you for a long time? I want you, I've wanted you for as long as I can remember. I want you, I want you, I WANT YOU. I don't want anyone else EVER! I LOVE YOU!"

She pitched forward and exploded into tears.

"Jess-" He tried to place a hand on her shoulder.

She shrank away, and Nick felt like he'd been slapped.

Then, she got out of bed quickly and left his room, slamming the door behind her.

"Jess, wait, you're not-" Nick began, starting slowly after her.

Then, he heard a loud thud, like the sound a watermelon makes when you hit it with your fist.

"Jess!"

He threw open the door to see her, limbs splayed out any which way, on the floor between their rooms with her raven hair surrounding her head in a halo.

Nick kneeled next to her. "No, no, no," he muttered, worry creasing his face.

"Jess, wake up!" he yelled. "Jess! JESS!"

Winston came storming out. "It is OFFICIALLY Saturday, and Saturday is a day-" he broke off when he saw Jess. "Damn, Miller, you done messed up this time."

* * *

PLOT TWIST!

And thus, the story can (and will) be milked further! :D

I really want to know thoughts on this one, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. It'll only take a few minutes of your time!


	8. Hospital

Meow.

Finals are fast approaching, so between the studying and the regular schoolwork, life has been busy. I barely had time to even think about New Girl. So here's the new chapter, at long last. Summer is coming up veeeeery soon, though, so you can expect faster updates and such.

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 8-Hospital

Nick lifted Jess's limp body into his arms, his heart racing. Winston offered to help him get Jess to the hospital, but Nick said he'd be okay and to go back to sleep. (Which Winston did gladly and gratefully.)

Hr rushed down to the parking garage and his car as fast as he could (considering he had a grown woman in his arms), ever so thankful that Schmidt had consented at last to sharing the coveted 4D parking spot with his roommates.

He laid her gently in the backseat of the car and pulled a blanket (left there from a previous escapade involving a cancer scare and a midnight beach trip) over her body. She didn't move, not even when his lips gently brushed her sweat-drenched forehead.

Nick hopped into the front seat and drove out of the garage as fast as he could. The tires screeched in angry protest at the speed he was going.

* * *

Nick burst through the hospital doors, carrying Jess. The entire lobby looked up at him all at once, the patients unamused and the nurses alarmed.

"Help?" he gasped weakly.

A rush of nurses suddenly surrounded him. Two of them took Jess from his arms, and another brought in a gurney. Another nurse handed him a clipboard for him to fill out her medical information, for she seemed to have assumed that they were married or something, and still another ushered him carefully to a chair in the lobby. One more brought him a paper cup of water from the water cooler, and then they were all gone at once, as if they'd never been there.

Nick leaned back against his chair and downed the water all at once, thankful for the coolness of the liquid on his parched throat. Then, he crushed the cup and tossed it in the trash, and looked at the clipboard full of forms. He sighed.

"Best get this over with," he muttered, and proceeded to fill them out as best as he could. Some of them he had no idea of, like "What kinds of illnesses run in your family?", but some of them he could answer definitely, like "What is your age?"

When he finally went to give the sparse recordings to the receptionist, she flipped through them, then looked up and gave him an "Are you for real?" look. He responded with an indignant "I'm just her roommate! She lives with three men, and only one happened to be home!"

She rolled her eyes, smacked her bubble gum, and waved him off with a perfectly manicured hand.

Steaming, Nick marched back to his seat, where he waited anxiously for them to call him in with news of Jess.

* * *

Of course, on the one night he had stayed up entirely with her, it had to take two hours for them to call him in.

Nick stared at the clock, which now read 3:00. He yawned.

Then, he heard those blessed words.

"Nick Miller?" said a nurse.

He sprang up. "ME!" he yelled loudly, not even acknowledging all the dirty looks he was getting. "That's me! What happened to Jess? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, and awake. She's been asking for you. If you would just follow me please, Mr. Miller."

And Nick was right on her heels.

* * *

Jess groaned. The last thing she'd remembered was storming out of Nick's room, angry about something. But she couldn't exactly remember what. There were fuzzy bits and pieces floating around, and she was sure that the word "love" was said at least once. But by which one of them, she couldn't guess.

A nurse stood by her bed, writing things down on a clipboard.

"Where am I?" Jess croaked.

Without even looking up, the nurse replied, "You're in the hospital, dear. You've been here for two hours. Your boyfriend brought you here in quite a panic."

"He's not-" she broke off, the words lodged in her throat. She tried a different question. "Where is he?"

"He's in the waiting room. I can call him in if you'd like."

Jess nodded, and as the nurse left, she leaned her head back against the crackly paper-covered pillow on her gurney.

Just as Nick rushed in, looking frazzled and tired and worried, the memories of earlier came rushing back in a flood.

"Jess, Jess, oh my god. You-you-you got mad, and you passed out, and then-" he paused, panting, "Are you okay?"

She turned her head slowly sideways, having an idea. "Nick, what was I mad about?"

The question caught him off-guard as he pulled one of the chairs for visitors up next to her bedside. "Huh?"

"You said I got mad, before I passed out. What did I say?"

"Ummm..." he stammered, unsure of how to answer. It would be better for the both of them if he lied to her, he thought. But on the other hand, would it really? He hated lying to her, and he knew that she hated being lied to. Besides, what harm could it do? If she did love him, then great. If not, he would just have to get over his broken heart and move on. He'd done it with Caroline, and he could do it now.

"You...you told me that you loved me," he said softly. "And I didn't believe you, because you were, and probably still are, very sick. So you got mad, and said that you'd loved me for a long time, and stormed out. Then you fainted," he finished with a sigh.

Jess's mind was moving faster than her heart could process. He told her the truth, when she so deeply thought he was going to lie. What did this mean?

"It's not true, right, Jess?" he asked, averting his eyes to the floor, and when his voice cracked in pain it was almost unbearable for her. "You don't...you can't really..."

"But I do," she whispered, and his eyes shot upwards. She cracked a watery smile. "I do, I do, I really do love you."

And the happiness in his eyes was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

"I love you, Jess," he said strongly, standing up and getting closer to her. "I really do love you too."

Nick tilted her chin up with his hand and lowered his own, and the both of them leaned into the kiss, slow and amazing and beautiful.

When they broke away, she blushed. "Nick, you're going to get sick."

He smiled, bigger than she'd ever seen him smile before in the entire two years she'd known him.

"It'll be worth it," he said, and bent back down for more.

* * *

This chapter was not really supposed to go in this direction, because I wanted to milk the story longer. But now, I have no idea if I can put two more chapters in. The next one may end up being the epilogue.

THE END IS NIGH!


	9. Home

OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG IT'S BEEN

OH MY GOD

Real Life ran away with me. I hate it when it does that.

Bleah. :(

But hey, longest chapter to date! (Not that that makes up for it.)

Only one more chapter after this. Consider this one the last chapter, really, because the next one is more of an epilogue than a real chapter.

END OF THE LINE!

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Chapter 9-Home

When a nurse came in at 9:00 in the morning to check Jess's vitals, she found the woman asleep with the fingers of her right hand entwined with those of a gruff-looking man in plaid, equally passed out in a chair next to the bed.

The nurse smiled, and shook the woman slightly, a bit sad to break up the happy couple. But they were having a busy day, and the doctor who had checked on this lady the night before told this nurse this morning to "get her out of here, because she's perfectly fine and we're short on beds."

"Miss Day? Wake up, Miss Day."

The raven-haired woman blinked her eyes open groggily. "Hmmm?"

"Everything looks good here. If you could just fill these out for me, you'll be free to go."

"Oh..." she murmured sleepily.

The nurse took pity on the poor lady. "I'll just leave them here, and you can fill them out when you're ready," she said, and left the room.

Jess began to wake up more quickly after the nurse had left, and sat up slowly. She looked around the room. No spots in her eyes, and only minor dizziness from fatigue. Good. Better than last night.

Nick stirred beside her, flailing his now-empty hand to try and find hers.

"Jess..." he sighed in his sleep.

The Jess in question smiled at the sleeping form of her new lover and took his exploring-but-sadly-getting-nowhere hand, bringing it up to her lips and kissing it gently. His eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," he croaked.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Is everything okay?"

Jess nodded, a smile gracing her lips at the concern in his voice. "I just have to fill these out, and we'll go." She picked up the forms and the pen on top of them and began to write, scribbling quickly so they could get the hell out of there. She knew how much Nick disliked hospitals, and knew how much it must have taken him to bring her here.

As she worked, Nick asked her softly, "Hungry?"

She turned to him and smiled shyly. "A bit."

He stood up quickly. "I'll go get you something to eat," he said.

He returned about five minutes later holding two bagels and two small cartons of orange juice. "This is all I could find that I was sure wouldn't kill us."

Jess tossed her head back and laughed, a harmonious sound to Nick's ears. He placed her bagel and juice on her bed next to her, and proceeded to sit and eat his own. She finished signing her name on the last of the forms, setting the pile down neatly on the stand next to her, and smiled. "All done! Now we just have to wait for the nurse to come back and- NICHOLAS MILLER, did you SERIOUSLY just eat an ENTIRE BAGEL in UNDER 2 MINUTES?!"

Nick didn't respond, as he was too busy chasing down the bagel with the tiny carton of orange juice. The empty bagel wrapper lay in his lap with not so much as a crumb on it.

Just as Nick finished his juice, Jess shaking her head at him, the nurse came back.

"Ah, you've finished the forms. That's good," she said, picking up the stack. "I think you're all right to leave, yes?"

Jess nodded.

The nurse turned to Nick, who was wrestling with his orange juice and trying to get out every last drop.

"Ahem."

He dropped the carton. "Huh? Oh, right."

Jess snickered.

"Mr. Miller," said the nurse, "You'll be taking her home, I presume?"

Nick nodded. "Um, just out of curiosity, what was wrong with her, exactly? Just so I know how to take care of her properly."

Jess smiled shyly down at the bed. He really was the best.

"Oh, nothing serious. She is still sick, a cold I believe, and from what it looks like she was experiencing high levels of stress before she collapsed. She simply overexerted herself is all, and the fever, illness, and stress combined for the perfect storm."

Nick looked over at Jess, who looked a bit pale, but eager to leave.

"She should get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids," said the nurse. "Make sure that she eats enough too. If she has multivitamins, have her take those as well, one with each meal."

Nick dutifully committed each instruction to memory.

"I'll send someone to bring you a wheelchair," finished the nurse, and then she left.

Nick helped Jess out of the bed, for she was still very weak, and helped her get dressed. When the wheelchair arrived, they were ready to go.

Jess lowered herself into the chair, and twisted her head to look up at Nick. He bent his head down, planted a kiss on her forehead and smiled, brushing some stray hairs out of her face. Then, he straightened up and began pushing her out of the hospital and to, what he was concerned, freedom.

* * *

Jess fell asleep not two seconds after he put her in the car.

Nick had draped the blanket from before over her fatigued figure after she buckled up, and it just seemed to knock her right out.

Even though she hadn't done much today, she was still not 100%. It was understandable that she would be tired. So Nick turned down the radio and simply looked at the road ahead of him, stealing an occasional glance at Jess at red lights and stop signs.

God, he loved her so damn much.

And he allowed himself one of those rare, genuine Nick Miller smiles that only seemed to come out when he was around her.

* * *

A few minutes before they arrived at the loft, it began to rain.

It wasn't a thunderstorm, but it wasn't just a drizzle. The sky was completely gray, and the rain made a loud pounding sound on the roof of his car.

Oh, how glad he was that he had the parking spot today as well, so that he didn't have to park out in the rain and make Jess walk through it. She'd get soaked to the bone, and she'd never get better.

Nick pulled into the coveted 4D parking spot and gently reached a hand over to Jess. He really didn't want to wake her, but he had no choice.

Well, actually...

Nick got out of the car and walked all the way around it to the passenger side. He opened the door as quietly as he could, unbuckled Jess, and carefully picked her up, blanket and all. He shut the car door with his foot, and then proceeded to carry her to the loft.

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like eons, Nick arrived at apartment 4D.

It took skill, but he managed to get his key out, open the door, carry Jess in, and put the keys back down all without even stirring her in the slightest way.

Nick carried her to his room at first, then thought better of it and took her to her own room. Her bed was softer, and he knew she was more comfortable there, even with all the protesting she did about how she loved his bed as much as hers.

He pulled the covers back and laid her down on the made bed, thankful that she was still in her PJ's from the night before. He then tucked the blankets back over her, and watched as she snuggled into them with a cute little sniffle. Gah, she was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Nick turned to leave, stepping gingerly so as not to wake her. But when he placed his hand on the doorknob, he heard a soft voice coming from behind him.

"Please stay with me."

He whirled back around and quickly walked over to her bed. He got in without a word, flung his arm around her, planted a small kiss on her hair, and began to give in to sleep.

But just before his eyelids closed completely, Nick had one final thought:

_This was home._


	10. Epilogue

Last chapter! :'( I had a really fun time writing this story, and I really hope you all enjoyed it. I just want to thank every single one of my reviewers for being so supportive throughout this entire process. I couldn't have done it without you all. :)

Sorry, this epilogue may make you think otherwise, but there _will not_ be a sequel, because I like how I'm leaving it.

And now, here's the final chapter. Thanks again!

~justaclassicgirl

* * *

Epilogue

"Nick, come ON. Don't be stubborn."

"Jess, if there's one thing I am, it's stubborn."

"You have to drink this."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Who says so?"

"Doctor Jess says so. Now DRINK THE TEA."

Nick groaned and flopped over in his bed, pulling a turtle face to end all turtle faces. "I HATE being sick!"

Jess clucked her tongue. "I told you not to kiss me."

He only moaned unhappily in response and pulled a deeper turtle face.

Feeling bad for him, Jess sat on the edge of his bed and leaned over, placing a kiss on his forehead. "Do you want anything?"

Nick rolled back over to look at her her, a cheeky grin spreading across his face.

"I've never seen a nurse or doctor without a uniform," he said.

Jess's mouth fell open, and she slapped him lightly on his shoulder.

"But I'm siiiiiiiick!" Nick whined, looking up at her with overly enlarged, pitiful brown eyes. He was trying to pull off the puppy-dog look Jess could do so easily, but from the look on her face, he could tell he was failing miserably.

'Is this what I look like?' Jess thought to herself as she giggled. 'He looks ridiculous!'

"When you're healthy," she said after managing to control herself, still smiling. "Right now, it would be better for you to not overexert yourself like I did."

"That was a totally different situation!" Nick exclaimed indignantly, then sneezed.

Jess sighed, and handed him the tissue box. "How about I make you some soup instead?"

He blew his nose heartily, then said, "Soup sounds good. Maybe even better."

She gasped in mock anger, crossing her arms. "I would make a GREAT sexy doctor, better than any SOUP!"

"Then prove it!"

The two locked eyes, and they both felt a flashback to a similar moment in front of an abnormally large fish tank.

Jess was the first to break the silence.

"Nice try, Miller," she whispered slowly, then kissed his forehead again. Long and lingering, soft and sweet.

She reached over and brushed some stray hairs off of his sweat-drenched face, then pulled the covers back over him. "Try and get some sleep."

He turned away from her and closed his eyes, trying to sleep even though he knew it was futile. But he would try for Jess, if not for himself.

As Jess reached the door, she turned around and looked at him one last time, curled up in a ball on his bed. Never before had she seen him so...vulnerable, was it?

"Nick Miller, letting someone take care of him," she whispered under her breath, very softly. "That'll be the day."

Then Jess left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

* * *

Nick smiled, his eyes still closed, and whispered to himself, "That'll be my Day."

* * *

That's it! That's the end of Doctor Nick ! Thank you once more to everyone who reviewed, and be on the lookout for another multichapter coming up somewhere in the next few weeks. ;)

Ta ta, roomfriends!

~justaclassicgirl


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